Virtual or digital wallets enable individuals to make purchases using electronic devices, such as a smartphones. Exemplary virtual wallets are included in connection with mobile payment services such as Apple Pay, Android Pay, Google Wallet, PayPal, and Bitcoin. The virtual wallets may store information for a plurality of virtual payment methods or options, each of which may correspond to a different credit card, debit card, store card or other payment option. Each payment option may be saved as a separate virtual card in the wallet. The stored information may include card information (e.g., card numbers, expiry dates, card types and security numbers), billing addresses, cardholder names and other information. When an individual desires to make a purchase, the individual can select one of the virtual cards in the virtual wallet to make the purchase.
The virtual wallet may be utilized to facilitate tap-to-pay purchases, in-app purchases and other types of purchases. Tap-to-pay purchases may be made using near-field communication (NFC). For example, to make purchases, individuals can simply place their mobile devices near a payment terminal that is compatible with contactless payment services. Certain contactless payment products may require individuals to provide a fingerprint or enter a passcode into a mobile device for identity verification purposes before purchases are made.
The virtual wallets may permit individuals to select a virtual card as a default payment option for making purchases. A credit card, debit card or store card that is selected as the default payment option will automatically be used by the virtual wallet to make a purchase unless an individual specifically selects another card to make a purchase. If an individual desires to use a payment option other than the default payment option to make a purchase, the individual must take several steps to do so. For example, the individual may be required to open the virtual wallet application, sort through a variety of virtual cards, select the virtual card that is to be used to make the purchase, place the individual's mobile device near a payment terminal while the selected virtual card is presented on a display of the device, and provide verification credentials (e.g., fingerprint or passcode credentials) to confirm the purchase. This process can be tedious and time-consuming.
Another technique for selecting a default card involves providing an individual with an application that enables the individual to preselect certain preferences for selecting the default card. For example, an individual may initially download and install an application on a mobile device. The individual may then open the application and utilize the application to specify various rules for selecting the default card. For example, the individual may specify that a specific card in the virtual wallet should be selected as the default card when the individual is making a purchase at specific store or retail location, or may specify that balances on gift cards should be expended before credit cards are utilized to make a purchase. Again, this technique can be very tedious and time-consuming for the individual because it requires various inputs and actions to be taken by the individual prior to making a purchase.
In addition to being tedious and time-consuming to set up and use, the aforementioned technique is also burdensome to individuals who wish to deactivate the default card selection rules because doing such requires the individual to take further actions and provide further inputs. For example, an individual who desires to deactivate the default card selection rules may be required to open the application, navigate through a series of interfaces and make a selection to change the settings that are currently being applied.